The Truth about Christopher Columbus

Everyone knows the saying Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. However, there is a lot more to Christopher Columbus than what everyone was taught in elementary school through high school. Columbus is thought to be a hero, but just being classified as a hero is a fallacy. Several works including Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies and The Lies my Teacher Told Me have been published about the real Christopher Columbus and his legacy.

The story of Christopher Columbus begins in the city of Genoa in the year 1451. Columbus was the oldest of five children. He went to grammar school but left school at an early age and began sailing on Genoese ships in the Mediterranean. The sailing experience that Columbus gained sailing in the Mediterranean was the base for his sailing knowledge. Between 1476 and 1785, Columbus lived in Portugal. While in Portugal, Christopher Columbus expanded his knowledge of sailing and navigation. The time that Columbus spent in Portugal helped in his later voyages across the Atlantic.

Christopher Columbus had two main motives for trying to find a sea route around the world to Asia. Columbus’ first reason was that he wanted the fame. He believed that the earth was round and according to his theory, the earth was only 18,000 miles in circumference (Symcox, 9). He believed that it would be faster to sail around the world to Asia than sailing around Africa. He wanted to be the first person credited for sailing around the earth to Asia. Columbus also wanted to make a name for his family. The second reason Columbus wanted to sail around the world was simple. He wanted to make money. Columbus’ want for fame and fortune drove him to create a sea route to Asia.

Columbus had f...

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...ors to the Native Americans that were living there when Columbus came in 1492. Also the Norse established a colony in Greenland for 500 years (Loewen, 8). While there, the Norse explored parts of North America (Loewen, 8). This evidence proves that Columbus was not the first person to discover the Americas. Columbus began the demise of the current Indian cultures in the area. While Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies neither agrees nor disagree with The Lies my Teacher Told Me, the primary sources and history of Columbus enhances the idea of Columbus not being a flawless hero as the history textbooks embrace.

Works Cited

Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995. Print.

Symcox, Geoffrey, and Blair Sullivan. Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. Print.